


tide pool

by nonbinaryezrabridger



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merfolk, M/M, don’t copy to other sites, merman duke devlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-27 17:26:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20049796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonbinaryezrabridger/pseuds/nonbinaryezrabridger
Summary: Tristan's favorite spot to hang out by himself is a secluded tide pool. One day, to his surprise, he finds another person there.





	tide pool

**Author's Note:**

> there isn't a lot of fic for this pairing so i figured i'd write some, and i'm a sucker for a merfolk AU
> 
> this fic will be using english dub names bc that's what I watch, sorry if that bothers anyone!
> 
> This will definitely be a series once I have the spoons to write it.
> 
> Disclaimer: if you consider yourself a fujoshi, and "anti-anti" or otherwise ship nasty shit, this fic is not for you. Fuck off!

\--------

Tristan walks along the shoreline, kicking at seashells as he goes. He’s heading towards his favorite spot; a tidepool hidden amongst a rocky hill. It’s a spot most people don’t bother going to, as it requires at least ten minutes of clambering over rocks to reach. Honda goes there when he needs some privacy, usually to think. He loves his friends, but the constant talk and company can get exhausting. Maybe that’s just because Tristan’s secretly an introvert. You wouldn’t think it from the confident way he acts, but he is 100% introvert. So when he needs to recharge, he goes here.

He reaches the start of the hill and begins to climb, happily listening to the comforting roar of the waves as he does. Along the way he grabs any rocks that are particularly interesting or pretty. He’ll keep them himself or give them to Tea as a present. His arms and legs eventually begin to ache from the hard work of hauling him up the rocks, but he knows the tide pool is worth the effort. Finally he reaches the top and stretches, looking at the seagulls wheeling over his head, before heading towards the tide pool. It’s sunken into a valley in the rocks, so his view of it is mostly obscured.

Still, he can see the bright flash of sunlight reflecting off water and the blue stillness of the trapped seawater. And there, the bright orange splotch of a sea star. He loves seeing all the animals who make the tide pool their home and it seems to change every time he comes up here. As he gets closer, he notices something unusual: a patch of pale skin tone, as if there was another person sitting in the tide pool. It’s possible, but unlikely, so Tristan hurries forwards, eager to figure out what it is.

He comes around a corner of a rock outcropping and can see half the tide pool, the other half still hidden by the curve of the rocks. To his astonishment, the skin tone color is indeed a person. He can only see their top half: a smooth, flat chest narrowing into a long, elegant neck, topped with a mass of long black hair. The person is looking away from Tristan, so he can’t see their face. He smiles anyways; maybe he’ll make a new friend today, even if he’s a little bummed he has to share his spot. He speaks:

“Hey, guess you like to hang out here too, huh?”

At the sound, the person whips around, revealing their face. Honda’s suddenly has trouble drawing in a breath; the person is strikingly beautiful. They have bright green eyes, hooded by a monolid. Black makeup is lined heavily around those eyes, accentuating them perfectly, and there is a black spike drawn under one eye down to their cheek. The long hair is pulled back in a ponytail, though half of it has broken free and falls in wet curls over their face. Their lips are thin but bright pink, pursed as Tristan stares at them. But most striking of all is the expression on their face: they look absolutely terrified.

Tristan doesn’t understand why they would ever look that afraid and it makes his heart ache. He rushes forwards, trying to put them at ease:

“Hey, I won’t hurt---” 

He stops abruptly, having stepped forwards enough to see the rest of their body. Rather than the swim trunks and legs he had expected to see, there is a long red tail, striped with black streaks and tipped with a delicate looking fin. Where the human and fish bodies meet is a merging of skin into scales, at about the small of their back. All Tristan can do stare; he doesn’t know how to react to seeing a real life merman.

“Holy shit.”

The merman only looks more desperate and he thrashes, throwing up water and splashing Tristan with salt water. He snarls, not making any progress in moving away from Tristan, and it’s then that he notices that the red tail is wedged in a crevasse. Where the tail is trapped is already bloodied, as if the merman had been unsuccessfully trying to pull it out. Tristan feels a flash of empathetic pain when he looks at the bloody wounds. Suddenly he knows what he has to do, even if this is an unbelievable situation.

He takes a step forwards and then jumps backwards as the merman hisses and swipes at him with what appears to be very sharp claws on the tips of his fingers. 

“Woah, hey! I’m going to help you, if you’ll let me?”

The merman glares, making his green eyes glitter in the sunlight.

“Why would you do that?”

Tristan had wondered if they were able to speak; apparently the answer is yes. He shrugs, unsure how to answer the question.

“Because I hate to see anyone in distress and even if you’re not human, I think you still deserve help?”

The merman blinks for a moment before relaxing slightly and smirking:

“How noble of you.”

Tristan huffs out a laugh, he likes them already.

“Yeah, I’m a bona fide knight in shining armor.”

Tristan splashes into the tide pool, disturbing a crab which scuttles under the safety of a rock. He walks along the impressive length of the merman’s tail until he’s gotten to the rock trapping it. As he works at pulling it away, hopefully without injuring the merman further, he decides to introduce himself:

“My name’s Tristan Taylor, he / him. How about you? And how did you end up here?”

The merman winces as the rock shifts but replies:

“Duke Devlin, he / him. I was caught in a storm and thrown up here. I wasn’t conscious until after the tide had gone down and by then I was stuck.”

Tristan grunts, straining to lift the rock, and then throws it aside with a splash. The merman lets out a happy noise and stretches the tail, testing it’s movement. Tristan watches him happily, before looking at the long way down the hill to the ocean. 

“Do you need help getting down? I can carry you, if you want?”

The merman looks up from his tail, considering for a moment before a smile spreads across his face.

“Sure.”

Tristan crouches and hooks one arm under his back and one under the tail, lifting him bridal style. He’s definitely heavier than a normal human, but he should be able to make it. He begins the treacherous trip down the rocky hill, made more difficult by not having his hands to support him. Still, he makes it down safely, and the merman is clutching at his chest and watching him appreciatively, making Tristan blush. 

They make it to the beach and then Tristan steps into the waves, walking out into the water until it’s up to about his waist. The waves push and pull at him, soaking him more thoroughly with every wave. He looks down at the merman in his arms and says nervously:

“Guess it’s time to say goodbye, huh.”

The merman smirks up to him, batting his long lashes.

“Yes, but first I’ve got to thank my handsome savior.”

His tone is drippingly flirtatious and Tristan feels himself blush much much harder. He’s so distracted by the heat in his cheeks that he doesn’t notice the merman leaning in until their noses brush. The merman stops there, considering him, and asks:

“May I?”

It suddenly strikes Tristan that this beautiful person is asking to kiss him and he stutters out:

“Y-yes!”

The merman smiles and finishes the motion, leaning to kiss him. Despite his forwardness, the kiss is soft and gentle, with only a hint of tongue pressed against his lips. Then the merman draws away, smirking, his lips pinker from kissing Tristan.

“We’ll meet again soon.”

Then he squirms out of Tristan’s arms and dives into the water, leaving him alone with the crash of the waves once again. Tristan makes his way back to dry land, shaking himself out of his daze. What an unbelievable day, not only met a mermaid but kissed one too!

\----------

**Author's Note:**

> Duke was definitely able to get down the hill by himself ;) 
> 
> Comments greatly appreciated!


End file.
